


Malediction

by Distant_Lights



Category: Chaotic (Cartoon)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-08
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-08-20 03:48:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8235034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Distant_Lights/pseuds/Distant_Lights
Summary: Post Triple Threat, pre-Last Stand. Tangath Toborn's commando team begins practice for the upcoming clashes with the M'arrillians. Today's exercise has Bierk anxious, and Ghatup tries to understand why. [For Blitz]





	

"I can't do it! I just can't do it!" exclaimed Bierk, a dark orange and red Danian with emerald eyes and two pairs of folded arms. His head shook in decline over the topic at hand. Before him stood Ghatup, a slim, reddish Mipedian with pale green eyes and a dark red mane.

They were inside Kiru City's barracks, the training facility for OverWorlders—normally. The M'arillians posing a more dire threat each day, the three remaining tribes, and the UnderWorld remnants (they tried to eliminate them solo, but failed), realized merging together was their only chance of survival. Following chaotic mass training under their generals' command, Bierk and Ghatup were assigned to Tangath Toborn's commando team. The majority of their training now happened in the barracks, leading to them having this conversation atop a bridge above their primary training area.

The lizard tilted his head in curiosity. His comrade began acting this way following their commander's exercise briefing.

"What's so wrong about this exercise, Bierk? It's just-"

"Let's just say I've had bad luck with it," Bierk broke in, turning away from Ghatup. They paused.

"Bierk, are you really this uncomfortable over?" Ghatup asked, trying to understand this without much brashness. Bierk meant well, but he yammered, nagged, or grew upset easily.

"What? Haven't you dealt with anything scarring?" Bierk questioned.

Ghatup indeed had his own issues, and Bierk had just triggered the flashback— _those_ days solans ago. The Mipedian stared absently, the thoughts he preferred alleviated replaying inside his mind. His face became a concerning blank expression.

However, he snapped himself out of it seconds later, remembering he was speaking with someone. Bierk's solid eyes widened. What had he done? He suspected a flashback trigger, he'd seen it happen with more battle scarred Danians before. Ghatup didn't read as one who'd bare such an issue.

"Oh... did I say something… bad?" he queried with remorse.

"It's okay. You couldn't have known," Ghatup assured Bierk with a hand stretched outward, regaining himself. It confirmed Bierk's guess of it being memory-based. "Um, what were we talking about again?"

Bierk awaited Ghatup to remember, but he merely scratched his noggin. The silence lasted longer than expected, and the Danian soon realized Ghatup's episode made him legitimately forget their conversation. Were the experiences Ghatup endured that traumatizing?

Regretful, but wishing to forget his accident immediately, he sighed and looked away.

"My… parachuting problem," he answered.

Bierk had a darkly ridiculous adversity when parachutes became involved in anything he did. He recalled his first experience with one long ago. Danians, while bearing little need for them, deemed parachuting mandatory, should an escape from the Pillar was required and other options weren't available. Those needing this exercise gathered at a high-up cliff on the Pillar exterior. A young Bierk attended this practice as all soldiers did, and the second he strapped his chute on, he felt uncomfortable. Learning of his exercise, he grew nervous over plunging from such a distance. What if he impacted the pillar walls too hard? What if his parachute didn't eject properly—or worse, didn't eject at all?

He hadn't a say in this exercise, however. They wouldn't let him slip unless he suddenly became ill or critically injured, and not even the most convincing acts or slips fooled their particular instructor.

When his time came to drop (he wished it'd come laggardly, but didn't), he gathered his courage and leaped down. He predicted at least one of his fears becoming reality—his chute string not working or the chute not popping out properly, or suffering a concussion. But the string responded, and the chute released as intended. Descending, he felt mass relief. Seconds later, the chute caught on a shard of rock protruding from the Pillar. He dangled for a moment before the spike's sharp edge slit the crudely sewn fabric. He fell, but thankfully he'd came close enough to the ground for it to not really hurt.

He passed the test and didn't need to perform it again. When they ordered him to toss his torn chute into the dump vent, he _enjoyed_ stuffing it down there.

Anything involving parachutes since then lead to pain. He couldn't fathom how a Danian of his rank wound up with dealing with parachutes as much as he did, but it happened. They chose him as support for a retrieval mission—out in the Mipedim wastes. They needed to locate a contact claiming to know the identity of an assassin wanted assimilated by the queen. As they descended from the aircraft they'd stolen from the OverWorlders solans before, Bierk hesitated as long as possible before his commander barked his orders. He shielded his eyes as he let himself tilt off the edge.

As he plummeted, he thought his parachute didn't work as he tugged the thread a couple time in failure. Out of panic he yanked it, and that seemingly made it work. He didn't exhale just yet, awaiting a twist of bad luck. Just as he turned his head left, a flying creature collided with him. The Danians said this particular species was blind, for why no one knew. The winged critter might have tangled itself in the chute strings had Bierk not reacted as quick as he did. He tossed it aside, and the descent went peaceful from there. Bierk thought they'd have the echolocation, maybe they were that oblivious to their surroundings?

Better yet, their mission was a bust. Their contact, after having found his cavern camp, had packed up and fled—some said Mipedians found his hideout. Bierk felt he was playing games with the Hive. If so, it wasn't the first time either. Perim had its share of sick, dolt tricksters seeking attention.

His most recent scruff with a chute actually happened not long ago. He hadn't even been off the ground, him and another Danian were helping move battle gear from a weapons cache. This cache stood in an interesting and hazardous part of the Pillar—a column going upwards with several ledges connected by wooden stairs. The way down from the floor Bierk stood on meant death, the main reason he questioned what the builders were thinking. The ancient architects made marvels, yet they conceived ideas like this. Nobody seemed to care either. Then again, many didn't think for themselves in Mount Pillar, Bierk felt.

The armor plated door opened, Bierk waited for the other Danian to get his round of weapons to carry. He waited by the door, groaning over how soar both pairs of his arms were. His extra limbs earned him this task, he was one of a few who had this odd feature, a very recessive one they told him. He'd gathered all he could—he wanted this over fast, but this Danian took his sweet time.

When the creature finally had his load, he approached Bierk. They readied to head out and drop off the gear in the new cache. Bierk getting a move on, he didn't notice a certain string dangling from his pile. His leg caught on it and released the parachute from the pack attached. It blanketed Bierk and blinded him, making him stumble forward. Knowing the cliff ended right before him, he halted himself. He dropped much of his load, and the shaken-free parachute, in the process. Standing stiff, he heard the heavier items break at the bottom.

Neither Danians received a penalty, being an accident and the gear broken was run-of-the-mill. But Bierk cared the least for so anyway—he swore he was cursed when it came to parachutes, each encounter worsening until it eventually killed him. He'd steered clear of them from that point on. Today, however, Tangath insisted on practicing parachuting.

"I'm convinced I'm cursed when it comes to parachutes!" Bierk concluded.

Having expounded his experiences, he awaited Ghatup's response. The Mipedian did admit inside that Bierk's luck with parachutes sucked. He knew of those flying vermin from the second story, they were endangered from hunting. Sighting one nowadays was quite rare.

He took a breath while sorting everything out.

"Well, I can see where you're coming from," the lizard admitted, his hands at his hips. "Are you sure you didn't encounter any other parachutes in between?"

"Positive, I would have remembered, then backed away," Bierk assured him.

Ghatup couldn't think of where to take this next. He imagined Bierk's stubbornness blocking out his help. At that point, and as cold as he sounded, he questioned why he even cared anymore? He paused at this, recollecting the reason they even established a rapport. Then he recalled why—Bierk had saved Ghatup from a steep fall in the rocky OverWorld. They'd begun the trek up the mountain to Ravanaugh Ridge. It would have been a fatal plunge.

Now he wished to help again, feeling guilt otherwise. He owed him.

Ghatup quickly devised a plan to help Bierk overcome his discomfort around parachutes. Tangath wouldn't tolerate Bierk, the OverWorlder snapped on the Danian when he moaned a little too much back when they were part of a larger unit with Odu Bathax and Prince Mudeenu. He felt he'd have to step in, maybe watch Bierk? If anything went wrong, he'd do all in his power to prevent it. _If—_ he didn't entirely buy Bierk's story, he'd overly exaggerated past experiences before. Though he seemed serious this time, Ghatup made sure he didn't fall for the Danian's overreaction.

The Mipedian faced Bierk, his idea ready. "Well, how about this..."

* * *

When the time for their exercise came, Ghatup, Bierk, and the rest of Tangath's team gathered outside the city walls. After a full head count, their general lead them near the wastelands. Out there they found their aircraft, an OverWorld creation, but sporting the insignia of the aligned tribes on the side. They boarded the ship, the interior containing the best technology the OverWorld (and Olkiex) had to offer.

Though Tangath said they'd learn how to operate the aircraft, other creatures piloted for their exercise. Ghatup and Bierk sat together with the rest of the team on a bench, waiting for them to take flight. The two sat closest towards the edge of their right of the bench. Each of their parachutes lied on the ground before them. Tangath stood nearby, arms folded and awaiting anything from the pilots. Seemingly only Ghatup and Bierk had conversed throughout their trip to the aircraft.

Ghatup turned to Bierk, who glared down at his parachute, one pair of arms crossed like Tangath. One of the other soldiers glimpsed at the tense-looking two for a moment. Ghatup felt Bierk would try bailing out from this exercise despite their deal. He said nothing for now though. Bierk had no intentions of leaving however, but he still felt reluctant. If he came to breaking Ghatup's deal, he didn't care if Tangath roared at him again. They wouldn't be parachuting much against the M'arillians anyway. _Hopefully._

The aircraft engine's started, heard by everyone inside. The creatures scanned their surroundings above in reaction. Bierk acted more antsy, the moment he'd feared for the past few hours drawing near. He pushed Ghatup aside by accident, nearly making him fall to the cold floor.

"Hey!" the Mipedian said in reaction while straightening himself.

"Sorry," Bierk apologized.

They flew through the skies for a little bit, reaching a large clearing in the pale wastes of the OverWorld's territory. Tangath approached a window and focused on the spot. They neared their destination. Him and one of the pilots glanced at one another, Tangath nodding to him.

Turning around, he faced his team. They'd noticed his exchange with the pilot and already gave their leader his attention. Ghatup looked over at Bierk. He'd stiffened—if Danians could sweat, he'd be sweating like a horse. Everyone knew it was time for the exercise.

"Gather at the door with your parachutes," Tangath ordered, hands at his hips.

Bierk's stomach sank. He even more considered bailing out. He swore he started seeing his life flash before him. To himself, he wondered if this really was the end? Would the curse win? Why was he even cursed anyway? He didn't boast as being a good creature, but he was no UnderWorlder. What had convinced whoever controlled this curse to cast it upon him?

Ghatup and the creature beside Bierk noticed his behavior. Ghatup bumped his elbow into Bierk's side, snapping him out of it. They faced each other. The Danian whimpered, showing how afraid he became with each passing moment. Facing the music, he knew he wouldn't slip his way out of this one, not with the rep between him and Tangath. Ghatup wouldn't let him either—though it wasn't too apparent, the Mipedian had a rapport with Tangath. Bierk didn't know why, though it partly looked like sucking up. Bierk wished he'd recalled the two's relationship, as maybe there could have been another way. But it was too late for that now.

"Let's just get this over with," the Danian got off his tongue. He sounded about as frightened as he truly was. Some of their teammates stood up already and prepared for the drop.

Ghatup couldn't help but feel a little bad for Bierk. Though he moaned and was hard to work with, he imagined being in his shoes on this. It must have been frightening for someone as soft-shelled as Bierk. When they stood, Ghatup picked up Bierk's parachute pack for him. The Danian took a moment to take it.

They approached the small sliding door they'd be leaping out of. Tangath stood besides it while the rest stood before it. A couple more creatures glimpsed at the frozen Bierk, but turned away. Tangath didn't see Bierk as he stood behind Ghatup. The Mipedian's eyes focused on Bierk as Tangath went over their instructions again. The Danian tuned it out, unable to focus at the moment. He knew what to do anyway. They needed to drop into a chalk ring below and nothing more. A simple exercise, but still a nightmare.

"We should be coming up on a drop zone any moment now," Tangath finished, to Bierk's terror. He gulped again.

The team chatted among each quietly. Bierk remained silent and petrified, Ghatup's eyes still fixated on him. He stretched an arm towards Bierk, nudging him and snapping him out of it. He gasped while withholding his voice, not wanting anymore eyes on him, especially Tangath's. The two stared at each other, and Ghatup sighed in their pause.

"I'm not going to yell at you for being afraid over this," Ghatup assured Bierk. "Just cooperate with me, okay? I'll do whatever I can to help you get through this."

Bierk didn't like aspects of Ghatup, but he respected him for lending a hand now. He simply nodded in agreement before they returned to standing quietly again. Bierk swam in his own thoughts, gazing over at various parts of the plane. Ghatup just watched him and answered another creature's questions on something.

Midway into wondering about something, Bierk caught of one of the pilot's looking behind himself, saying something he couldn't catch among the several voices bouncing in the aircraft. Bierk's eyes widened and he stiffened again, it appeared he spoke to Tangath.

"Alright, we're here. Get ready!" Tangath announced. Those five words pierced Bierk's mental exoskeleton, and Ghatup noticed it. Peering around one other creature, Bierk watched Tangath grasp the sliding door handle, gesturing them to take a step back. All complied as he slowly slid open the heavy door. His thoughts scattered, Bierk couldn't help but wonder how heavy that door was? Him and the rest braced as the howling wind surged inside.

Through the open aircraft door, the front creatures looked down at the marked area they were to land inside. It was a clearing in the rocky terrain of the OverWorld expanse. Even if Bierk could see it, he didn't want to. He'd get a good look on the way down soon enough. The first couple in line threw their packs around their shoulders and dived. As the next few followed, Bierk and Ghatup remained in the back, watching them hop out.

"Just trust me, okay?" Ghatup asked. "I'll make sure nothing happens."

Bierk wanted to say something, but retained it out of realizing how unfriendly it'd be, especially now. He nodded in agreement again to Ghatup, putting his trust in the lizard.

Them and the other creature still on board approached the edge. Their comrade gave it a glance before taking the leap, leaving just them. They turned to each other yet again before approaching it too, Bierk being the slower of them. When he caught up to Ghatup, they looked as well. Ghatup knew Bierk wouldn't budge easily, and he felt he needed no more trouble with Tangath while he at it. Tangath currently spoke with one of the pilots over something, eyes off them.

He made a decision to help him out, even if it weren't the most comforting.

"Ready?" Ghatup asked Bierk.

"Uh," Bierk simply said. As Ghatup expected.

"Uh, I'm gonna take that as a yes," he stated. He shoved Bierk off the edge, quick for him to not respond, or even react to what he just said. He hopped down with him, hoping Tangath didn't catch that. If so, he'd explain everything later.

They began their descent, with Bierk watching the plane fly off. He hoped Tangath saw that. He turned to Ghatup, who fell right beside him, the air surging through his mane.

"Hey!" the Danian scolded. He couldn't believe Ghatup of all creatures would do that.

"Sorry, I just didn't want you getting in any more trouble with him," Ghatup explained, eyes on the creature. "If you didn't budge."

As enraged as Bierk was, he admitted inside that Ghatup's decision held some justification.

Falling through the sky, the two caught a couple creatures ahead already having pulled their chutes. Bierk remembered why he'd been in terror much of today. Soon they'd be pulling their chutes, too. Dying rather than not pulling the string was definitely out of the question.

He had to face the curse now.

Ghatup noticed Bierk freeze up again. He felt the need to comfort the Danian, again.

"If it helps, close your eyes. Wait," Ghatup reconsidered. He remembered the goal of this exercise. They needed to land within the ring, and that certainly required vision.

"That's not helping, Ghatup!" Bierk yelled.

"Sorry, I'll just watch your back. I promise, nothing will come near you!" Ghatup swore to Bierk as he watched them plunge to Perim's soil. Bierk whimpered in fright.

_You better!_

Bierk anticipated the adversity—the pain that, even with Ghatup's interference, wouldn't be enough to prevent. If he were to die, he wished it be painless. Be it in whichever form it insisted on manifesting in this time, the curse was after him again. He didn't wish to focus on staying within the ring, but secondarily fearing Tangath's cold discipline, he did. Everything passed by so quickly, the ground coming up more whenever he glanced off. His inner panic made him slightly distrust Ghatup, who stuck to his promise and scanned their surroundings.

Ghatup was now unsure of what to expect. He remembered a comrade back in the Mipedim deserts who had a similar curse. He didn't believe him until he vanished for a while. But he had more than one soldier who blamed their misfortunes and forced toiling for curses. Bierk honestly fit the profile of said creatures—the whiners as he nicknamed them.

He kept his eye out for anything flying by. Nothing came their way, nor did he spot anything coming upon the horizon. He just heard the howling winds from their altitude, Bierk, deploying chutes and a couple voices from the others below them. There also weren't any greyish clouds in the sky. In fact, there were barely any clouds in general above, should a lightning strike be the death of Bierk. But Ghatup didn't jump to conclusions just yet though.

_Nothing's happened yet..._

They both realized they had to pull their own chutes now. They turned to each other, and Ghatup gave Bierk a simple nod to tug the string. The Mipedian waited for Bierk, just to remain beside him. If he hesitated, Ghatup felt he'd have to tug it himself. He watched his plated finger reach for the string, shaking. In Bierk's mind, he felt he was about to unleash not only the chute, but at worst his final moments. He hadn't taken this as roughly as he imagined—death and all—might have resulted from nearly poisoning himself on toxic M'arillian water when they contaminated the reservoir. But he didn't have control over it this time.

Ghatup watched Bierk, around them, and the upcoming ground consecutively. They were in the ring, and even closer to the ground. He readied to urge Bierk, and if needed, do this for him. But the Danian gathered the courage—well, Ghatup wouldn't exactly consider it courage in this case—to pull the string. His chute released and he flew upwards a bit as the wind blew into the fabric. Ghatup heard Bierk whimpering again as he opened his own chute. He shot up and remained mostly by each others side as they began their soft descent into the chalk ring, which they'd remained in. Ghatup didn't find it challenging, though it not being difficult made him wonder. Tangath didn't assign tasks this easy, or at least he hadn't before.

He still found nothing concerning or suspicious.

They neared the ground, making out their comrades below. They chatted amongst each other, not noting their arrival into the ring. Ghatup held a generally neutral expression while Bierk expressed a mixture of surprise and rising relief. He hadn't even a scratch oh him, just that shove out the plane from Ghatup. He was in disbelief.

_Could it be?_

They finally returned to Perim's soil. Touching the dirt, Bierk let himself sit as he stared forward, mouth agape. His parachute covered him, and snapping out of it with a head shake, he began taking it off him.

Ghatup landed on his feet, his chute falling right behind him. He watched Bierk pull the chute off and erect himself. He held his tongue and waited for a bit longer to say anything, just to be sure. He watched Bierk as he simply looked around, touched himself for the sheer fact of being alive, looked around some more, then faced Ghatup. He awaited the Mipedian's thoughts.

Ghatup approached Bierk and placed one of his scaly hands on Bierk's shoulder. "I guess whatever it was is gone now." Ghatup leaned towards the skeptical side now, feeling it was really bad luck Bierk had with the chutes before.

Bierk wondered—perhaps it really was all coincidence? And whether or not Ghatup had learned of it and stuck by his side during the fall, he'd still be in one piece? Thinking this made him feel as if a cluster of noise within his noggin dissolved. Solans he spent gripped in this "curse's" wrath, but now it felt frivolous.

Bierk faced Ghatup. "Yeah."

* * *

 

Bierk and Ghatup returned to the same place they'd spoke in earlier. Below them, the rest of their team and another commando squadron trained and exercised on their own. They weren't up for it, and no orders from Tangath for now gave them the choice to. Ghatup leaned against the railing, arms folded and head lowered, while Bierk paced back and forth, his head down as well.

"Bad luck," Bierk thought out loud, "Just bad luck." He stopped in front of Ghatup. Noticing his two pairs of feet, the Mipedian rose his head at the Danian as he gazed in the opposite direction. "I should have thought of that."

Ghatup felt glad him and Bierk had fixed, or rather debunked his parachuting curse. Even so, such an occurrence was plainly unfortunate. Bierk's previous fear of the chutes seemed justified to Ghatup, even if he wouldn't handle said situation the same way.

He uncrossed his arms and stood up straight. "To be fair, I can see why you thought it was a curse."

Bierk turned to Ghatup. "Huh?"

"I mean," Ghatup began, his eyes now ambling away, "Regardless, that was some awful luck you had."

Bierk understood and nodded with a hum. "Well, thank you for caring."

"You're welcome. Oh, and..." Ghatup paused. Bierk's mouth gaped slightly in curiosity.

"What?" he inquired.

"I overheard Tangath and Odu earlier on your way back," Ghatup explained, fixating on the small pile of discarded parachute packs in a corner below the bridge. "How comfortable do you feel about parachuting more? They might be using them for our first big mission."

Bierk went blank from Ghatup's sentence. Though he'd overcame his fear, he still felt some remnant discomfort from parachutes. But remembering what happened earlier today, he saw no reason to fear, or fight his way out of the exercise, should a second run happen.

"I'd be fine with that," Bierk answered. Ghatup still had his eyes on the chutes, though not attentively. He didn't feel Bierk wouldn't be all that fine next time.

_We'll see about that._

In the midst of their silence, Bierk remembered what happened with Ghatup during that conversation—him accidentally setting something off inside the reptile's head, and making him forget their topic momentarily. He still felt remorse over it, and felt more so after Ghatup had shown worry over his parachuting problem.

Perhaps it was Bierk's turn to help Ghatup?

Bierk found Ghatup still looking away.

"So, uh, may I ask about something?" he queried, hoping he wouldn't set Ghatup off again.


End file.
